14 



houses, another amidst a tall corn field. Various Glossophaga were recorded from a 

 banana plantation at a woodside and next to a river. 



MonophyUus: M. redmani prefer hiunid caves, where they usually live in colonies of 

 considerable size. Sexes apart from each other the mdividuals cling to the walls, the 

 ceilmgs and chinmeys in dense clusters (Homan & Jones 1975). M. plethodon is 

 exclusively known from netted individuals. As there is also one record of a dead specimen 

 in front of a cave entrance m Dominica Island (Schwartz & Jones 1967) tliese bats 

 presumably accept caves as day shelters. 



Leptonycteris: L. nivalis is a colonial cave dweller which is also found in adits, deserted 

 buildmgs and hollow trees. Such caves are characterized by a musk-like scent resembling 

 that of Tadarida brasiliensis (Barbour & Davis 1969). Tlie size of the colonies may 

 exceed 10 000 individuals: Easterla (1972) reported a population density of 1615 bats per 

 square meter! 



Lichonycteris: All records are from dense ram forest areas; up to now no data on roost 

 selection. 



Anoura: In Venezuela, Handley (1976) found Anoura predommantly in humid and 

 woodland areas, often at high altitude. They spend the day in crevices and caves. 

 A. cult rat a reportedly inliabits liigher levels (mountainous forests from 220 m to 2600 m) 

 (Tamsitt & Nagorsen 1982). Most often the localities are in humid rain forest areas where 

 the animals are caught with nets along rivers or streams or at the edge of clearmgs or 

 villages. The specimens I caught myself in Ecuador spent the day in a very hiunid cave 

 (San Antonio de Pichmcha, height 2300 m above sea level). 



A. caudifer has been reported by Koepcke (1987) from the Amazon area of Pern from 

 cultured areas next to woodland, but she did not detect any roost sites. - One specimen 

 collected in 1983 at Rio Cuyabeno, Ecuador, was also caught with a net at sunset at a 

 riverine woodside next to a banana plantation. Tlieir preferred roost sites include tree 

 hollows, caves, drainage pipes, sewers and buildings. Up to 13 individuals were recorded 

 at one single location. In Manaus, Reis (1981) detected tliree individuals in a fallen hollow 

 log in the company of Micronycteris megalotis. 



Hylonycteris: Phillips & Jones (1971) collected H. imderwoodi in dense woodland of 

 Jalisco, Mexico. Some small groups of two and eight individuals were reported by Laval 

 (1977) under a wooden bridge and a hollow tree. Tliis species, however, also accepts 

 caves and tumiels as roost sites (Allen 1942), but apparently in small groups of very few 

 individuals only. In Guatemala, one female was caught together with two specimens of 

 different species Glossophaga and one Lichonycteris obsciira next to a night-blooming 

 tree. Currently, notliing is known about their sociahzation in the roost site. 

 Scleronycteris: One of the tliree known specimens Handley (1976) netted in Tamatama, 

 Rio Orinoco, T.F. Amazonas, Venezuela, at a riverine jungle clearing. 

 Choeroniscus: Several individuals of C. intermedins have been reported by Koepcke 

 (1987) from the Amazon basin of Peru roosting m small groups or in pairs under logs or 

 in hollow trees in riverine areas. Three of them were found separately among the roots of 

 fallen trees, one pair beneath the bark of a rotten log. AU individuals were 50 - 70 cm 

 above the floor and occupied their gloomy roost sites for several months. Three C. in- 

 termedins she caught at the edge of a primary forest, one of them flying above a low field 

 and another at a dead water of Rio Llullapchis. One specimen of C. minor, captured at 

 Rio Cuyabeno in Ecuador 1980, was also foimd at a river bank (Patzelt pers. comm.). 



